spacemanspiff
Juniors
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With everythin happening in the game of Rugby league at the moment, Ray zeroes in on what must count as the biggest non-issue of the year.
Sports journalism in this country - particularly in Rugby League - has gone straight to hell. Why on earth do I have to choke down this rubbish, and then follow up for desert with the wafer-thin offerings of Andrew Johns insights into the game?
Rules broken with intent
By Ray Chesterton
July 31, 2006
THIS weekend, I saw something in a rugby league match that I thought, and prayed, I would never witness outside of France - where any concept of rule-keeping has been long drowned in red wine, casual indifference and, in international matches, patriotism.
On Friday night, I saw a referee award a try to Sharks back rower Lance Thompson that could not have been a more graphic breach of the rules if it was highlighted by a neon sign.
It was awarded despite a Sharks play-the-ball - to begin the sequence of moves that led to the try - deserving a penalty; at no stage did the player's foot make contact with the ball.
But play rolled on without intervention from referee Shayne Hayne or his touch judges.
But Hayne thought he saw something else in the sequence, and referred it to the video referee.
And this is where it becomes absolutely unbelievable - and a reflection on the abysmal refereeing standards that are emerging more and more.
Video referee Graeme West put the flawed play-the-ball on replay, must have seen it was a breach - but allowed the try.
Perhaps the referee saw it and ignored it. Maybe the touch judges did as well. But a video referee watching a replay in slow motion: How could he miss it?
Pass me the smelling salts mother. I think I'm going into a coma from exasperation.
Have refereeing standards really dropped so low?
We already concede that scrums have absolutely no bearing on deciding possession. The feeding halfback does that. Line dropouts are taken a minimum of a half-metre past the tryline and into the field of play.
Forward passes happen so often we might as well be playing gridiron.
And now we're ignoring play-the-ball breaches.
If you feel your eyes glazing over because this is about refereeing, try to stay with me.
This is not about refereeing. It is about the non-refereeing almost anything-goes attitude that permeates the game.
I hear a former referee, whose reluctance to enforce rules naturally led to low penalty counts, has actually told people that actual contact is immaterial, provided there is intent to make contact with the ball in a play-the-ball.
I haven't checked that with him. I'm frightened to, in case it's true.
Because that would mean Friday night's decision was legitimate and we're all doomed.
Sports journalism in this country - particularly in Rugby League - has gone straight to hell. Why on earth do I have to choke down this rubbish, and then follow up for desert with the wafer-thin offerings of Andrew Johns insights into the game?
Rules broken with intent
By Ray Chesterton
July 31, 2006
THIS weekend, I saw something in a rugby league match that I thought, and prayed, I would never witness outside of France - where any concept of rule-keeping has been long drowned in red wine, casual indifference and, in international matches, patriotism.
On Friday night, I saw a referee award a try to Sharks back rower Lance Thompson that could not have been a more graphic breach of the rules if it was highlighted by a neon sign.
It was awarded despite a Sharks play-the-ball - to begin the sequence of moves that led to the try - deserving a penalty; at no stage did the player's foot make contact with the ball.
But play rolled on without intervention from referee Shayne Hayne or his touch judges.
But Hayne thought he saw something else in the sequence, and referred it to the video referee.
And this is where it becomes absolutely unbelievable - and a reflection on the abysmal refereeing standards that are emerging more and more.
Video referee Graeme West put the flawed play-the-ball on replay, must have seen it was a breach - but allowed the try.
Perhaps the referee saw it and ignored it. Maybe the touch judges did as well. But a video referee watching a replay in slow motion: How could he miss it?
Pass me the smelling salts mother. I think I'm going into a coma from exasperation.
Have refereeing standards really dropped so low?
We already concede that scrums have absolutely no bearing on deciding possession. The feeding halfback does that. Line dropouts are taken a minimum of a half-metre past the tryline and into the field of play.
Forward passes happen so often we might as well be playing gridiron.
And now we're ignoring play-the-ball breaches.
If you feel your eyes glazing over because this is about refereeing, try to stay with me.
This is not about refereeing. It is about the non-refereeing almost anything-goes attitude that permeates the game.
I hear a former referee, whose reluctance to enforce rules naturally led to low penalty counts, has actually told people that actual contact is immaterial, provided there is intent to make contact with the ball in a play-the-ball.
I haven't checked that with him. I'm frightened to, in case it's true.
Because that would mean Friday night's decision was legitimate and we're all doomed.
